Other forms: whirlwinds
A whirlwind is a small spinning column of wind that lifts dust and leaves. A whirlwind of leaves, caught in a whirlwind, the whirlwind passed.
It is smaller and far weaker than a tornado, and dust devil is the name for the dry-weather kind. Figuratively, a whirlwind is anything fast and overwhelming: a whirlwind romance, a whirlwind tour — and those two are near-fixed phrases. Note reap the whirlwind, meaning to suffer consequences far larger than the act that caused them, which is from the Book of Hosea.
1nounwhirlwindA small spinning column of wind that lifts dust and leaves.
“A whirlwind spun across the dusty field, lifting straw into the air.”
2nounanythingAnything fast and overwhelming.
“Their whirlwind romance ended in marriage just three weeks after they met.”
whirlwind is a spinning wind, or a rush.
The word is whirl plus wind, and whirl came from Old Norse. It is a plain English compound describing exactly what happens, which is why it needed no borrowing.
Middle English
whirlewind
English, today
whirlwind
From Middle English whirlewind, whirlewynde, equivalent to whirl + wind. Compare Middle Dutch wervelwint, Old Norse hvirfilvindr.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Nature & Weather, Weather & Seasons